Download Langat 2 key to solve water crisis - New Straits Times

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2015
PAGE 12 I NEW STRAITS TIMES
PRIME NEWS
'
It is t he
only solution to
t he problem, says
t hink tank president
CRITICAL:
margin level.
In the southern part of Selangor,
he said, the reserve margin was less
than one per cent.
"The problem will be more acute
during drought or dry weather when
the demand for water supply is high-
er:'
He said the existing34 water treatment plants in Selangor could proKUALA LUMPUR
duce only 4.371 billion litres of treatHERE is no other way to re- ed water per day, while the demand
solve the water crisis in Se- has increased to 4.322 billion litres
langor and the
perday.
Klang Valley but to build
On June 17, Energy,
fj
Green Technology and
the Langat 2 Water Treat- !
ment Plant and its i
Water Minister Datuk
distribu t ion system Il
Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili,
(LRAL2).
'
! urged the Selangor govIt is the only solution to j
! ernment to continue co! operating in mal<ing the
the problem, said Association ofWaterandEnergy :• WATD
i wat er res t ruc t uring
Research Malaysia's pres- 1
! and Langat 2 proJ·ect a
ident S. Piarapal<aran.
CRJS(S,
success as agreed by the
He said the water short- '-------·····-·--·-----' previous state leaderage was more critical now
ship.
with the lower treated water reserve
The Federal Government, he said,
T
-----!!!!!!
"
1
'
f
I
I
-
I
The Selangor government has been urged. to continue cooperating in
making the water restructuring and Langat 2 project a success as
agreed by the previous state leadership. The existing 34 water treatment
plants in Selangor can produce only 4.371 billion lit res of treated water per
day, while the demand has increased to 4.322 billion litres per day.
File pic
was committed in ensuring continuous water supply in the Klang Valley and would tal<e over the operational control of water supply distribution in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur
and Putrajaya if the restructuring of
the water industry in Selangor was
unresolved.
Apart from the Langat 2 project,
Piarapakaran said efforts to reduce
non-revenue water, like repair of
leal<ed and damaged pipes, should
be carried out simultaneously to increase water capacity for distribution to consumers.
Piarapakaran said the water
catchment areas for Langat 2 should
also be gazetted as permanent
reserves to protect the water quality.
Meanwhile, Syarikat Bekalan
Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) executive director (Corporate Affairs
Division) Priscilla Alfred said
the occurrence of water supply
dis r uption was due to high
demand for water, which had
reached the maximum capacity level.
"The situation becomes worse because the number of people has increased and water usage increased
by three per cent during Ran1adan."
Bernam a